A wide variety of medical treatments are at least partially performed through the delivery and introduction of therapeutic compositions to a treatment location. In home or outpatient settings, typical delivery methods can comprise oral delivery, via liquid or solid forms, as well as a variety of inhalant style devices. In clinical or hospital settings, therapeutic fluids can be injected using needle based or in some minimally invasive procedures, the therapeutic fluid can be delivered through a tubular device such as a catheter or endoscope based systems.
One way in which therapeutic fluids can be delivered internally is through the use of a tubular device configured to provide a jet-injection of the therapeutic fluid at a desired treatment site. Generally, a remote injector is utilized to deliver the therapeutic fluid from an external reservoir located at a proximal end of the tubular device such administration can occur at a distal end of the tubular device. Due to the relatively long travel length of the therapeutic fluid through the tubular device, the remote injector must generally be capable of pressurizing the therapeutic fluid to pressures exceeding about 2,000 psi. In order to accommodate these pressures, the tubular devices have been fabricated of alloys such as NiTi or stainless steel or with metal-reinforced polymers such as the braided tubes typically found in catheters. While the use of alloys and metal reinforced polymers satisfy the operational requirements related to burst pressure and distention strength, they are generally of limited flexibility making them difficult to navigate within the tortuous paths often found in the human body such as, for example, the urogenital tract.